Microsoft, NSDC collaborate to empower 1 lakh women in India with digital skills

Microsoft on Wednesday said it has collaborated with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to impart digital skills to more than one lakh underserved women in India over the next 10 months.

As part of the collaboration, more than 70 hours of course content will be made available free of cost, covering topics such as digital literacy, enhancing employability, nano entrepreneurship, and communication skills.

This initiative is an extension of Microsoft's partnership with NSDC to provide digital skills to over 1 lakh youth in the country.

"The (latest) partnership is focused on enhancing women's workforce participation by equipping underserved young women from rural communities with the skills required to thrive in a digital economy," a statement said.

The programme will curate a series of live training sessions and digital skilling drives to help create opportunities for young girls and women, particularly first time job seekers and those whose jobs may have been impacted by COVID-19, to join the future workforce.

"COVID-19 has accelerated India's digital transformation and a workforce that is equipped with future-ready skills will be the key to unlocking the country's next phase of growth. Providing equal opportunity and access to digital skills for underserved young women will be an important part of this journey, ensuring an inclusive economic recovery," Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari said.

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These live training sessions will be delivered online through the Microsoft Community Training (MCT) platform. The MCT platform will also allow the trainees to access rich content already available on MCT as well as provide a forum to engage with peers.

"NSDC is nurturing a conducive ecosystem in which women across formal and informal sectors get access to appropriate skill development opportunities. Mainstreaming of content, delivery of training and use of digital platforms are key to increasing participation of women," NSDC MD and CEO Manish Kumar said.

The partnership with Microsoft will help in economic empowerment of women, he added.

Under this partnership, eSkill India - NSDC's digital skilling initiative - will support in building the outreach of this engagement through its skilling ecosystem which includes sector skill councils, training partners, and training centres. Microsoft and NSDC will award a joint e-certificate to participants post course completion.

Furthermore, 20,000 young women from regions with least female labour force participation will be selected by NSDC and skilled through dedicated skills for employability training program for employment in IT/IT enabled job roles.

The partnership with NSDC is an extension of Microsoft's global skilling initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills needed for the COVID-19 economy and part of Microsoft India's ongoing commitment to support young women for a career in technology.